Free PTO Calculator & Vacation Tracker
Track your Personal Time Off, Floating Days, and project your future vacation balance.
PTO Taken
| Reason | Date | Hours | Actions |
|---|
Floating Days Taken
| Reason | Date | Days | Actions |
|---|
Company Holidays
| Holiday | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Independence Day | 2026-07-04 | Friday |
| Labor Day | 2026-09-01 | Monday |
| Thanksgiving | 2026-11-27 | Thursday |
| Black Friday | 2026-11-28 | Friday |
| Xmas | 2026-12-25 | Thursday |
| NYE | 2027-01-01 | Thursday |
Vacation Goal
Bi-Weekly Projection
Shows your future balances. Rows turn yellow when the carryover limit is reached and red at the hard cap.
| Date | Balance (Hours) | In Days | With Floatings |
|---|
The Ultimate Guide to PTO: Everything You Need to Know
A Paid Time Off (PTO) calculator is an essential tool for employees to track their vacation days, sick leave, and personal time. Understanding exactly how much paid leave you have now, and how much you will accumulate in future pay periods, is the cornerstone of healthy work-life balance. Rather than guessing, checking outdated HR portals, or manually doing math on your pay stubs, a dedicated calculator automates the projection.
Our free tool projects your balance across 30 upcoming pay periods — roughly 14 months into the future. It automatically accounts for your unique accrual rate, any planned time off you've already scheduled, your floating holidays, and your employer's specific carryover and hard-cap rules.
What is PTO and How Does it Differ from Vacation?
Historically, companies separated paid leave into different "buckets"—you might get two weeks of vacation, one week of sick leave, and two personal days. Today, the vast majority of modern employers bundle all of these into a single "PTO bank."
A bundled PTO policy provides more flexibility. You don't need to fake an illness if you simply need a mental health day, and you aren't restricted to specific categories. However, this also means you are responsible for managing your own time. If you use all your PTO for a vacation in July, you won't have any paid time left if you get sick in November. For a deeper dive, check out our guide on The Mental Health Benefits of Taking Your Vacation Days.
Understanding Accrual Math
Most companies issue PTO on an accrued basis, meaning you earn a fraction of your annual total every time you get paid. Common bi-weekly accrual rates:
- 10 days/year — 3.08 hrs per period
- 15 days/year — 4.61 hrs per period
- 20 days/year — 6.15 hrs per period
- 25 days/year — 7.69 hrs per period
If you're unsure of your system, learn about the differences between Accrued and Unlimited PTO policies.
"Use It or Lose It" & Hard Caps
Many employers enforce limits to prevent endless stockpiling:
- Carryover limit — the maximum PTO you can carry into the new year. Balances above this on Dec 31st are forfeited.
- Hard cap (MAX) — the absolute ceiling your balance can never exceed. Accrual pauses completely once hit.
Our projection table highlights carryover risks in yellow and hard-cap hits in red so you never lose earned time. For practical tactics, read our guide on how to avoid forfeiting your vacation days.
Floating Holidays
Floating holidays are paid days off given to employees to use at their discretion, often to observe cultural or religious holidays not recognized on the standard corporate calendar. They almost always expire at the end of the year.
Our tool tracks floating days separately. Read our Complete Guide to Floating Holidays to learn how to best utilize them.
The Financial Value of Your Earned Time
Your accrued PTO is part of your total compensation package—it has real monetary value. In fact, if you leave your job, some states legally require your employer to pay you for every unused hour in your PTO bank on your final paycheck.
If you make $30 an hour and have 80 hours of accrued PTO, that is $2,400 of earned wages sitting in your account. Knowing whether your state treats PTO as earned wages or if your employer's written policy overrides it is crucial if you are considering changing jobs. We've compiled a full breakdown of State-by-State PTO Payout Laws so you know exactly what you are entitled to when you quit or get laid off.
How to Maximize Your Time Off
If you feel like you don't get enough PTO, it is absolutely something you can negotiate during the hiring process. Hiring managers are often much more flexible with granting an extra week of vacation than they are with increasing the base salary by $10,000. Read our tips on How to Negotiate More PTO When Starting a New Job.
Additionally, you can stretch the PTO you do have by using the "Holiday Bridge Strategy." By scheduling your time off adjacent to existing federal holidays (like the 4th of July or Thanksgiving), you can turn a single PTO day into a 4 or 5-day continuous weekend. Check out our guide on Maximizing Your PTO Around Public Holidays.
Not sure your package is even competitive? See how much PTO is normal by industry and tenure, then build a complete plan with our framework for planning a full year of vacation days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate my PTO balance?
Enter your current balance (in hours) and your accrual rate (hours per pay period). The calculator automatically projects your balance across 30 future pay periods, subtracting any planned time off you log. You can also account for floating holidays and year-end carryover caps in the Advanced Settings panel.
What pay period types are supported?
The calculator supports four pay period types: weekly (52 periods/year), bi-weekly (26 periods/year — the most common in the US), semi-monthly (24 periods/year, paying on the 15th and last day of each month), and monthly (12 periods/year).
Is my data stored anywhere?
No. All calculations happen entirely in your browser. Your settings are saved to your device's local storage so the page remembers your inputs between visits, but nothing is ever sent to a server. Your PTO data stays completely private.
How does the Vacation Goal Predictor work?
Enter your vacation start date, return date, and destination (optional). The tool counts the workdays in your trip to calculate how many PTO hours you'll need, then checks whether your projected balance will be sufficient by your departure date. If you'll be short, it shows the exact date you'll have enough — and whether floating holidays could bridge the gap.
What does the yellow row in the table mean?
A yellow row indicates that your projected balance on that pay date exceeds your employer's carryover limit — the maximum hours you can carry into the next calendar year. If your balance stays above this limit through December 31, the excess is typically forfeited. Use it as a reminder to schedule time off before year-end.
What does the red row mean?
A red row means your projected balance has hit the hard cap (MAX) — the absolute ceiling your employer allows. Once you hit this limit, PTO stops accruing until you use some. This is a strong signal to book time off so you don't lose future accruals.
Can I use this as a PWA (app)?
Yes. Visit the site in Chrome or Safari and use Add to Home Screen (mobile) or the browser's install prompt (desktop) to install it as a standalone app. The service worker caches all assets so the calculator works fully offline after the first load.
How do I convert PTO hours to days?
Divide your PTO hours by the number of hours in your workday. For an 8-hour day: 40 hours ÷ 8 = 5 days. The Hours / Day setting in Advanced Settings lets you customize this for 6-, 7-, or 10-hour workdays. The In Days column in the projection table always reflects your configured hours-per-day value. You can also use our standalone PTO hours-to-days converter for a quick one-off conversion.
Do I get paid for unused PTO when I quit?
It depends entirely on your state laws and your employer's written policy. In states like California and Colorado, PTO is considered earned wages and must be paid out. In most other states, the employer must follow their established handbook policy. Check out our state-by-state payout guide for details.
Does unlimited PTO actually mean unlimited?
No. Unlimited PTO is heavily dependent on company culture and managerial approval. While you do not accrue a fixed balance, you are still expected to meet performance goals. Interestingly, studies show employees with unlimited PTO often take less time off than those with accrued banks due to guilt. Read our breakdown on Accrued vs. Unlimited policies.
Why does my balance go up by an odd number like 4.62 hours?
That figure comes from your accrual method. With bi-weekly pay there are 26 periods per year, so 15 vacation days (120 hours) ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours per paycheck. Semi-monthly, weekly, and hourly plans all use different divisors. Our full guide to how PTO accrual works shows the formula for each method.
Is sick leave the same as PTO?
Not always. Some employers keep vacation, sick, and personal time in separate banks, while others merge them into a single consolidated PTO pool. The rules for using and paying them out differ — sick time is usually not paid out when you leave. See our breakdown of sick leave vs. PTO vs. vacation.